James McGrath (Queensland, Liberal National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister to the Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thanks to Labor, Australia is facing a cost-of-living crisis. It was always clear that they were devoid of an economic plan, but this has been reinforced by a forgettable, empty, nothing budget. You would have thought that Tuesday night's budget would have at least attempted to help families. Instead, Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Labor have already begun to wave the white flag. The test for Labor in the budget was to build on the strong position inherited from the coalition, and Labor have failed this test. Instead, we've been presented with a budget that does nothing to address Labor's cost-of-living crisis bearing down on Australian families. This budget confirms that the cost of living will skyrocket. Whether it's your electricity bill, your rent, your mortgage payment or the taxes you pay, Labor will always cost you more. Under Labor, your electricity bill is expected to go up 56 per cent—that's 56 per cent, not 5.6 per cent, not 15.6 per cent or 0.56 per cent, it's 56 per cent! That's what Labor costs you, even though Anthony Albanese promised 97 times before the election to reduce your power bills by $275. This is a classic example of the dodgy combination of lies and incompetence that underpin the non-existent ethics of Labor governments. They promise you the world and deliver you Marrickville. They simply don't care about you or the economic hardships facing your family.

Australian families need a budget that tackles the big issues of the day. Tuesday's offering falls well short of this standard, leaving Australian families $2,000 worse off by Christmas. But, oh, they'll continue to review; Labor loves reviews—lots of reviews. This is a budget about hurting Australian families and reviewing things, and not about making real decisions.